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This study done by Margaret Echelbarger investigates on how children understand fairness in relation to economic concepts.

“The trick is knowing when and how to balance self interest and concern for others—what is appropriate in different circumstances,” said lead author Margaret Echelbarger, a recent U-M psychology doctoral graduate. By studying how children engage in different types of exchanges, researchers can discern the origins of these behaviors, as well as their developmental course. “This in turn tells us a bit more about ourselves as adults,” Echelbarger said.

One of the Living Lab’s main missions is to provide a welcoming space where the community and researchers can come together to learn more about science and research. Below we have provided an impact report to show the ways in which we have attempted to reach that goal. Participants refer to the volunteers who took part in our research. Educational interactions tend to be conversations between the researcher and families, where they either talk about research, the Living Lab, or science more broadly. The topics of conversation are similar with staff and volunteers, to help them get just as excited about psychology and research too!

We are excited to announce that our last quarter resulted in:

507 children/parents participated in LL-based studies

519 museum visitors heard about our research in conversations with researchers

Doctoral candidate Kimberley Brink was recently featured on NPR with Dr. Henry Wellman about how children and adults think about robots. While young children often are fine with the robots, adults are more likely to find them creepy. Read the NPR blog piece or Brink’s publication to find out more.

This work by Dr. Craig Smith and Margaret Echelbarger examined children’s emotions about spending and how that correlates with their spending behavior. In fact they found “Kids on the spendthrift end were more likely to buy and tightwad kids were more likely to save…” “Parents independently provided data on their child’s reactions to spending and saving, and these verified the accuracy of the child’s self-reports.” Read more of the article for more of the study’s results.

One of the Living Lab’s main missions is to provide a welcoming space where the community and researchers can come together to learn more about science and research. Below we have provided an impact report to show the ways in which we have attempted to reach that goal. Participants refer to the volunteers who took part in our research. Educational interactions tend to be conversations between the researcher and families, where they either talk about research, the Living Lab, or science more broadly. The topics of conversation are similar with staff and volunteers, to help them get just as excited about psychology and research too!

The Living Lab wouldn’t be able to continue its mission without the dedication and bright minds of our undergraduate research assistants. Many of the friendly faces you meet at the Living Lab are undergraduates who are passionate about research. Some of them go above and beyond and will present their research at events like the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Symposium.

This year, Kendall Sidnam, won first prize for her phenomenal poster (one that also utilized data from the Living Lab). We are incredibly proud and grateful for her continued hard work and dedication!

School is out and summer has already begun! Make sure to have the Living Lab as one of your many stops this summer. For the Living Lab in Ann Arbor, we are open and available much more during the summer. Take a look at our calendar for more information.

If you are traveling this summer and are curious about other Living Lab sites across the United States we have included some below!

One of the Living Lab’s main missions is to provide a welcoming space where the community and researchers can come together to learn more about science and research. Below we have provided an impact report to show the ways in which we have attempted to reach that goal. Participants refer to the volunteers who participated in our research. Educational interactions tend to be conversations between the researcher and families, where they either talk about research, the Living Lab, or science more broadly. The topics of conversation are similar with staff and volunteers, to help them get just as excited about psychology and research too!

One of our researchers has had a few news articles posted about his latest research.

His work often looks at how children perceive, understand, and develop ideas about race. In this study, what children thought about race over time was tested. Children were shown a picture of a child and two pictures of adults and were asked “When this child grows up, which grown-up will it be?”. Children ages 4 to 6 were just as likely to choose an adult with the same emotion (an unstable characteristic) as an adult of the same race (a stable characteristic). This shows that many young children do not have strong ideas about race and may not see it as constant over time. The same is not true for older children, adults, or minority children ages 4 to 6. These differences not only show developmental differences, but also how different social experiences lead to an earlier grasp on race as a stable characteristic.

One of the Living Lab’s main missions is to provide a welcoming space where the community and researchers can come together to learn more about science and research. Below we have provided an impact report to show the ways in which we have attempted to reach that goal. Participants refer to the volunteers who participated in our research. Educational interactions tend to be conversations between the researcher and families, where they either talk about research, the Living Lab, or science more broadly. The topics of conversation are similar with staff and volunteers, to help them get just as excited about psychology and research too!